Thursday, March 24, 2011

(cue Springsteen): Born in the U.S.A.

Photo taken in the bedroom of a distinctly American messy teenager

Today I had the honor of receiving a Stylish Blogger award from the gorgeous Joybird at Songbird in His Court. Now before I go on, I need to say that I've been given blog awards before, but I haven't posted about them because it made me shy. But I did and do very much appreciate them nonetheless. I'm always surprised that anyone would want to award my babblings. Anyhoo, it's what Joybird said that made me laugh out loud, and I had to respond.

"Jodi lives in the USA but there is something distinctly British about her in my opinion."

Unbeknownst to Miss Joybird, I have been told this very thing all my life.

Not just about the UK, but other countries as well. For example, there was the recently immigrated Irish guy who was working on our house. This is what he said - "Your accent is pretty good American, but where are you really from?"

While in the Ukraine, someone said to me through a translator, "You're too polite for an American. Where are you really from?"

A friend from West Africa told us that "Your hospitality is more Liberian than American".

I've also been asked what part of Eastern Europe I'm from, was wished "shabot shalom" from a salesperson in a department store, been mistaken for a Canadian, and was told by a Welsh friend that the stork definitely dropped me on the wrong side of the pond.

I like to flatter myself by thinking that I'm unknowingly living out I Corinthians 9:22--being all things to all men. But who knows. One thing I know to be true, though. I do love people, all kinds of people. And I'm grateful that blogging has enabled me to meet so many from all over the globe.

So the award requires the revealing of 7 things your readers may not know about you.The story above counts for number one.

2. When I'm stressed, I hum the theme to "Elmo's World". I have no idea why.

3. I went to a different school every year until I got to ninth grade. Don't ask, it's complicated.

4. I sometimes spell the word color this way: colour. I think it looks prettier the British way.

5. When talking really fast I pronounce "house" like a Canadian. Not on purpose. Really.

6. I once smirked at a man in a cafe who wouldn't stop staring at me. I later found out that the man was the painter Andrew Wyeth.

7. This is the longest post I've ever written.

8. (bonus) I have an overly-sensitive conscience, which is why I can't pick a certain number of people to send the award back to. Seriously, I love all of the blogs I read, and it's too painful to choose only a certain number. That is why I haven't really played along before. I really do enjoy the creativity and uniqueness that each one of you express. I think you're all wonderful. So to any blogger who reads this, feel free to join in. I pick you.

27 comments:

The British way of spelling words is different from the American way because in the early 1900's there was a big push in the U.S. to conserve nature (sound like today?) American English spelling was reformatted to drop letters from words (such as the 'u' in 'colour') so that when books and newspapers were printed, less paper would be used since there were fewer characters to print.

I love these posts - always interesting to learn more about a favourite blogger. Thank you for sharing :-) Funny you should say that about being thought British - I've always somehow how imagined you with a British accent! Although I do sometimes think of you as Kiwi too :-)

You also say the word, "pound" in a kind of Canadian/Scottish way. When I was little, I thought it was because we have Scottish in our family. I was disappointed when I realized I wouldn't have a quasi Scottish accent.

I love these little details about you -- when I'm stressed I hum the "ABC's" -- we must have to revert to a special place in our childhood. I just did it on the flight from NE to MA during turbulence -- major humming of the ABC's and shushing my children, who relentlessly asked why I was humming.

:D I add those extra letters too especially in "colour" and "amoung." I attributed it to reading too many old British books (amoung is definitely colonial,) but now I can say it must have rubbed off from you.

I can't stop giggling. Jodi, my fellow citizen, this post rocks! I at least know that my instincts, while wrong, are clearly in good company. Andrew Wyeth staring, goodness. Wyland flirted with me once in his gallery, but that doesn't carry quite the same cultural cache. And I'm a bit honored that I sparked the longest post you've ever written. But I am loquacious, maybe it's contagious.

Oh, and Leslie, I know what you mean. I always spell "gray" like "grey". It just looks better. It's like what Anne said about her name: "Print out "A-n-n" and it looks absolutely dreadful, but Anne with an "e" is quite distinguished."

my whole life people have told me i have a southern accent. people are always asking me where i'm from. they don't believe me when i say here (california). the most south i've ever gone is los angeles. :)

Oh, {Jodi} this is delightful in every way. I'm not surprised to find that everyone thinks you're just like one of *them* or someone who, alone, truly understands them... It probably stems from a highly intuitive and responsive-to-language-and-culture nature. Maybe there's a personality type, like type O negative blood that's a 'universal donor'! :) hm. intriguing. All in all, though, the biggest underlying factor is probably love. It shows.

This was fun and pleasant to read, and definitely no problem with it being the longest post you've ever written!I also find British spelling prettier, and write British whenever I can. Easier for me, when I'm not American. :-)

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About Me

I'm a Christian. I am an artist. I am married to my best friend, and together we made four of the most interesting people I ever met. I am unashamedly in love with my Creator. My greatest hope is that my ordinary life will reflect His staggering beauty.